THE PORTRAYAL OF A KOREAN ADOPTEE’S EXPERIENCE IN NICOLE CHUNG’S ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW: A MEMOIR OF ADOPTION

Transnational adoption has become one of the factors of transnational migration to Western countries, including America. Transnational adoption can be viewed from at least two perspectives, South Korea as the origin country and America as the targeted country. From the birth country, transnational adoption becomes a way to help the children from poverty, have a better future, and contribute to the birth country when they return. From the adoption-targeted country, this adoption is a humanitarian way to save the children from poverty, primitive way of life, and God’s blessing. One of the countries which regularly “send” the children to Western countries is South Korea. The children become Korean adoptees and mostly living in white American neighborhoods. Living with white Americans has shaped the Korean adoptees’ behavior and way of thinking same as Americans. Korean adoptees face various problems, starting from adjusting themselves in new environment, finding their cultural roots and identity, and struggling to find their biological parents. This study employed Phinnes’ ethnic identity development to make sense of the experience of a Korean adoptee called Nicole Chung in her memoir, All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir of Adoption. Through the discussion, it can be understood how transnational adoption programs become national agenda and big business field since it is not expensive to have children from other countries. There is also an assumption that the children will have better and happier life when they are taken to America and other western countries. However, throughout their life as adopted children in America, the children also find difficulties, especially in finding their identity.

Occupational risk of COVID-19 by country of birth. A register-based study

AimTo assess the role of occupation in the spread of COVID-19 among immigrants in Norway.MethodsIn 2.729.627 residents in Norway aged 20-70 years and born in Norway, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey (mean [SD] age 44 (14) years and 51% men), we examined whether persons employed as taxi drivers, bus- and tram drivers, child care workers, nurses, personal care workers in health, food service counter attendants, waiters/bartenders, cleaners and shop sale persons had a higher risk of COVID-19, from April 1st 2020 to December 2nd 2020, compared to 1) Norwegian-born in the same occupational group and 2) all others with the same birth country and aged 20-70 years, using logistic regressions.ResultsWithin each of the included occupational groups, immigrants had a greatly increased odds of COVID-19 when compared to Norwegian-born (OR ∼ 1.66-12.72). However, immigrants working in the selected occupations had the same odds of COVID-19 as person with same birth country not having the same occupation (OR∼1). Exceptions were Somalian-, Afghani- and Iraqi personal care workers in health services who had an increased odds of COVID-19 (OR 1.61 (95% CI 1.31, 1.98), OR 1.46 (1.06, 2.02) and OR 1.40 (1.03, 1.91), respectively) compared to others from the same country.ConclusionImmigrants holding various occupations implying close contact with others did not have higher odds of notified infection than others with the same country of birth, except for health care workers. Our study indicates that occupation is not an important driver of the high rates of COVID-19 among immigrants from Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey.

“New White Ethnics” or “New Latinos”? Hispanic/Latino Pan-ethnicity and Ancestry Reporting among South American Immigrants to the United States

This article explores the identification patterns of South American immigrants to the United States, as measured via Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and ancestry reporting on the US Census. Using data from the 2006–2010 and 2011–2015 American Community Survey, my analysis reveals four main findings. First, I show significant heterogeneity in identity patterns and in sociodemographic, immigration, and geographic characteristics between South American and Mexican immigrants in the United States. Second, I find that Southern Cone immigrants opt not to report Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and “birth-country” ancestry (ancestry that is concordant with birth country, such as Colombian or Chilean) to a greater extent than Andean immigrants and, instead, report more distal “ancestral-origin” ancestries (i.e., Spanish, Japanese, etc.). Third, I show that those immigrants who do report Hispanic/Latino ethnicity are more likely to report “birth-country” ancestry than “ancestral-origin” ancestry, net of other factors. Finally, my analysis demonstrates that Brazilian immigrants chart a different path of identification among South American immigrants and almost unanimously do not report Hispanic/Latino ethnicity while overwhelmingly reporting “Brazilian” ancestry. Taken together, variation in Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and ancestry reporting across South American immigrant groups has implications for their incorporation into US society, as well as for the degree to which these immigrants see themselves as racialized actors in the United States. Some South American immigrant groups (Southern Cone immigrants) appear to be incorporating as “New White ethnics,” and others (Andean immigrants) appear to be incorporating as “New Latinos.” Researchers of international migration should carefully consider these identification differences and their implications for the measurement and study of “Hispanic/Latino” immigrants and their descendants in the United States.

Hypertension and Its Associations with Dental Status: Data from the Dental, Oral, Medical Epidemiological (DOME) Nationwide Records-Based Study

Conflicting results have been published regarding the associations between dental status and hypertension. This study aims to explore whether or not hypertension is associated with dental status among young to middle-aged adults. To that end, data from the Dental, Oral, Medical Epidemiological (DOME) study were analyzed. The DOME is a cross-sectional records-based study that combines comprehensive socio-demographic, medical, and dental databases of a nationally representative sample of military personnel. Included were 132,529 subjects aged 18–50 years who attended the military dental clinics for one year. The prevalence of hypertension in the study population was 2.5% (3363/132,529). Following multivariate analysis, the associations between hypertension and dental parameters were lost and hypertension retained a positive association with obesity (Odds ratio (OR) = 4.2 (3.7–4.9)), diabetes mellitus (OR = 4.0 (2.9–5.7)), birth country of Western Europe vs. Israeli birth country (OR = 1.9 (1.6–2.2)), male sex (OR = 1.9 (1.6–2.2)), cardiovascular disease (OR = 1.9 (1.6–2.3)), presence of fatty liver (OR = 1.8 (1.5–2.3)), the birth country Asia vs. Israeli birth country (OR = 1.6 (1.1–2.3)), smoking (OR = 1.2 (1.05–1.4)), and older age (OR = 1.05 (1.04–1.06)). Further analysis among an age-, smoking- and sex matched sub-population (N = 13,452) also revealed that the dental parameters lost their statistically significant association with hypertension following multivariate analysis, and hypertension retained a positive association with diabetes (OR = 4.08 (2.6–6.1)), obesity (OR = 2.7 (2.4–3.2)), birth country of Western Europe vs. Israel (OR = 1.9 (1.6–2.3)), cardiovascular disease (OR = 1.8 (1.5–2.2)), fatty liver (OR = 1.7 (1.3–2.3)), high school education vs. academic (OR = 1.5 (1.3–1.8)), and low socio-economic status (SES) vs. high (OR = 1.4 (1.03–1.8)). We analyzed the associations between C-reactive protein (CRP) and dental parameters and combined the statistically significant variables to create a dental inflammation score (DIS). This crated a final model with the appropriate weights written as follows: DIS = (periodontal disease × 14) + (the number of teeth that required crowns × 11) + (missing teeth × 75). The mean DIS was 10.106 ± 25.184, and it exhibited a weak positive association with hypertension in the univariate analysis (OR = 1.011 (1.010–1.012)). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of the DIS against hypertension produced a failed area under the curve (AUC) result (0.57 (0.56–0.58)). Moreover, the DIS also lost its statistical significance association with hypertension following multivariate analysis. We conclude that hypertension had no statistically significant nor clinically significant association with dental status. The study established a profile of the “patient vulnerable to hypertension”, which retained well-known risk factors for hypertension such as older age, male sex, smoking, diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver but not dental parameters.

Abstract 16555: The Relationship of Preeclampsia and Maternal Region of Birth and Duration of Residence in Non-US Born Black Women

Introduction: Preeclampsia is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and disproportionately effects black women. Few studies have explored the prevalence of CVD risk factors and preeclampsia risk in non-US-born black women. We investigated the differential risk of preeclampsia by maternal birth country and duration of stay in US-born vs non-US-born black women residing in US. Methods: We analyzed data from 2967 black women (US-born and non-US-born) in the Boston Birth Cohort (1998 - 2016). Maternal sociodemographic characteristics and key CVD risk factors (hypertension, obesity, diabetes, smoking) were characterized in the two groups. We performed multivariate logistic regression to investigate the prevalence of preeclampsia by maternal birth country and the duration of stay in the US (<10 years and ≥ 10 years) after controlling for explanatory variables. In all analyses, US-born black women were used as the reference group. Results: Of the study group, 40.5% were non-US-born (42% Caribbean, 36% from Sub-Saharan Africa and 21% from other regions). US-born black women were younger and had higher baseline prevalence of obesity (BMI≥ 30Kg/m2), multiparity, pregestational diabetes, smoking, maternal stress, lower educational level, and single marital status. As compared to US-born black women, non-US-born women had a 26% lower risk of preeclampsia. When further categorized by their duration of residence in the US, the prevalence of preeclampsia in non-US-born women with duration of stay <10 years was 8.5%, compared to 9.3% in those with duration of stay beyond 10 years (Figure). Conclusions: As compared to US-born blacks, the prevalence of CVD risk factors and preeclampsia is lower in non-US-born blacks. The "healthy immigrant effect” which typically results in health advantages for foreign born women, tends to wane with increasing duration of US residence (≥ 10 years). Further research on the impact of CVD risk factors on preeclampsia is needed.

Charles Simic, American Poetry, and Serbian Critical Reception

A Serbian-born American poet, Charles Simic (1938), has been a staple of both American and Serbian poetic scenes for decades, though for different reasons. The paper examines the reception of Simic’s work in Serbian criticism, offering commentary on the translation of his poetry and its critical interpretation. Though Simic is undoubtedly part of American literary canon, and his work is informed by Modernist and Postmodernist American authors such as Williams, Stevens, or Ashbery, Serbian criticism has until very recently focused only on his origin and on the influence of his birth country on his work. By giving an overview of Simic’s major thematic and tonal elements placed within an American context, supported by numerous examples from his poems, we position him firmly within the American poetic tradition, while at the same time pointing out some elements of Serbian poetry relevant for his poetic development, like the influence of Popa, Tadić and Ristović. Shining a historical light on the reception of Simic’s poetry in Serbia, we uncover both the political and poetic reasons for the confusing inclusion of this American poet within Serbian culture.

“I’m More Than Just Adopted”: Stories of Genealogy in Intercountry Adoptive Families

In contrast to the historical ‘blank slate’ approach to adoption, current policy places significant emphasis on providing children with knowledge; family history; biological connections; stories, a genealogy upon which to establish an authentic identity. The imperative for this complex, and often incomplete, genealogy is also explicit within the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption established in 1993 to ensure that intercountry adopted children will be provided with a genealogical ‘heritage’. Yet, despite the recurring dominance of this approach, ‘heritage’ remains an ambiguous dictum which holds the expectation that adopted children should have access to any available birth/first family information and acquire cultural competence about an often distant and removed birth country. Providing such heritage becomes the responsibility of intercountry adoptive parents. It is therefore unsurprising that this role has become part of how intercountry adoptive parents perform and display their parenting and family practices before and after adoption (Richards 2014a; 2018). Such family work is explicit in the stories that parents and children coconstruct about birth family, abandonment, China, and the rights of adopted children to belong first and foremost to a birth country. Using qualitative data provided by a social worker, eleven girls aged between five and twelve, and their parents, this article explores the role and changing significance of narratives as familial strategies for delivering such heritage obligations. Outlined in this discussion is the compulsion to provide a genealogical heritage by adoptive parents which can ultimately be resisted by their daughters as they seek alternative and changing narratives through which to construct their belongings and identities.